Blinkist Summary Book

2021-09-08 06:39:52 Staring Down the Wolf
Part of 6/20

As a leader being afraid of exposing your flaws leads to inauthentic leadership that starves trust. But admitting your mistakes and moving on fuels it.
McRaven was also a humble leader who was openly vulnerable and willing to learn from other SEALs; he happily accepted constructive input without letting his ego get in the way. That’s one of the reasons his team trusted him so much – he made them feel like he was among them not above them. In fact on that fateful day he had faced the waves on a boat beside his SEALs even though as commanding officer he didn’t have to.
Finally McRaven followed through on his commitment to learn from his bad decision and took actions so his mistake wouldn’t happen again. The result? The SEALs developed a class of new smaller boats that were better able to handle rough waves and risky operations. A bad start led to a better outcome – but this was only made possible through trustworthy leadership that admitted to mistakes and held fast to commitment to le Open / Comment

2021-09-08 06:39:51 Staring Down the Wolf
Part of 5/20

erence to push forward the team committed. The training exercise ended with everyone thrown overboard and several people in the hospital with broken bones. 
McRaven made a huge mistake risking his team’s trust in the process. And for SEALs trust quite literally has life-or-death consequences. It’s also critical to staring down your fear wolf. Without it doubt creeps in making it harder to commit to what’s needed for success.
The key message here is: Build trust by committing to transparency humility and follow-through.
Luckily for McRaven he successfully faced his fear wolf of failing and bounced back gaining even more respect in the process. But why if the exercise was a failure did McRaven still have his team’s trust? Well it’s not always about success. In fact how you handle failure counts just as much if not more.
McRaven was transparent about where he went wrong. Instead of running from his mistakes he took responsibility and acknowledged that he had underestimated the waves. Open / Comment

2021-09-08 06:39:49 Staring Down the Wolf
Part of 4/20

ates real-life battle situations and physically and mentally prepares them for just about anything. In fact they’re primed to stare down their fear wolves when under pressure. 
With their fear wolves silenced they can then make informed decisions. They focus on the mission and put it above everything else. In this case the mission was to rescue the pilots. The SEAL unit’s core principle “no man left behind ” drove them to take the risk. So ask yourself what risks do you need to train for – and what’s going to drive your courage when it’s needed most.
Build trust by committing to transparency humility and follow-through.
SEAL Team Three commanding officer William McRaven one of Divine’s mentors found himself running a beach landing exercise early in his tenure. It was around two or three in the morning when the surf kicked up and became dangerously choppy. The scouts advised against doing the exercise and the team debated whether to cancel or not. But when McRaven stated his pref Open / Comment

2021-09-08 06:39:48 Staring Down the Wolf
Part of 3/20

By training – the right way. That involved adopting a risk-tolerant mindset that made him ready for anything.
Usually our fear kicks in during stressful situations. That fear tells us to play it safe. Sometimes though playing it safe is the opposite of what’s needed – as demonstrated by a UN peacekeeping force in Mogadishu Somalia. 
In October 1993 a helicopter went down stranding two pilots amid gunfire between hundreds of Somali forces. The Pakistani peacekeeping forces decided to wait for backup before acting but the American forces knew that time was of the essence. Instead of allowing fear of combat to hold them back they took a calculated risk to face gunfire and rescue the pilots. Their courage motivated the Pakistani forces to join and together they helped the pilots escape.
Now that was a risk so spectacular that it inspired an Oscar-winning movie Black Hawk Down. But the same lessons apply for your life. The SEALs embrace risk because of their intense training which recre Open / Comment

2021-09-08 06:39:46 Staring Down the Wolf
Part of 2/20

The Navy SEALs have an acronym to describe the world – VUCA – “volatile uncertain complex and ambiguous.” Inside each person are two wolves that navigate this VUCA world: the fear wolf of the mind and the courage wolf of the heart.
The fear wolf encapsulates all the things that hold you back emotionally – your fears negative biases and destructive patterns. This fear wolf also holds you back from accomplishing your goals. If you’ve ever felt stuck chances are you needed to confront the wolf to set yourself free. 
This confrontation is called “staring down the wolf.” It’s only by boldly facing your negative patterns and behaviors that you can lessen their impact blow past your fear and begin to feed your positive courage wolf.
The key message here is: Commit to courage learn to embrace risk and train hard.
As a former Navy SEAL Mark Divine knows what it is to be dropped into situations where courage could mean the difference between life and death. But how did he summon his courage? Open / Comment

2021-09-08 06:39:45 Staring Down the Wolf
Part of 1/20


What’s in it for me? Learn leadership skills that let you thrive under pressure.
Nobody ever told you just how much fear would impact your adult life right? Fear like a vicious wolf can hold you back from being the leader you want to be. But that’s all about to change. It’s time to challenge that fear wolf – and stare it down.
Using real-life examples from Navy SEALs training and missions these blinks unveil what it takes to build elite teams and become a first-class leader. They’re your field manual for how to be brave in the face of fear or anxiety how to communicate with integrity and how to deal with defeat like a commander. 
Tested under fire these proven lessons lead to stronger decision-making in any stress-inducing setting from Middle Eastern war zones to your workplace.
In these blinks you’ll learn
how to bounce back better;
what Hell Week is; and
why curiosity may kill the cat – but saves the SEALs.
Commit to courage learn to embrace risk and train hard. Open / Comment

2021-09-08 06:39:44 Staring Down the Wolf
Part of 0/20

Staring Down the Wolf (2020) is a leadership guide to forging great teams in the face of adversity. Drawing upon the teachings of the Navy SEALs one of the world’s most elite military units it shows what it takes to command an elite team. Open / Comment

2021-08-29 06:39:49 Subtract
Part of 7/19

ir nests – bowerbirds are the showy architects of the bird world. What's more a lot of this addition seems arbitrary. The bowerbirds never use these nests. As soon as the female has decided which complicated nest she likes the most she mates with the male who built it and then they leave the palatial nest behind. 
So why does the male bowerbird add so much stuff to a nest that will never be used? There’s a straightforward answer: it helps him demonstrate his competence to potential mates. 
The key message here is this: Adding makes us feel competent and happy. 
Competence is important to humans too. In fact we have an intrinsic biological desire to feel competent. After all it's much better to look and feel as if you're in control of your surroundings rather than out of control isn’t it?
Of course choosing to subtract can also be a competent decision. But the problem is it's much harder to demonstrate your competence through subtraction. After all how can you show what you’ve taken Open / Comment

2021-08-29 06:39:43 Subtract
Part of 1/19


What’s in it for me? Subtract your urge to add.
We’ve all heard that less is more. But look around your city your home or your office and you’ll find that most of us live by the mantra that more is better. Whether we’re going shopping or writing an email we itch to add. 
These blinks will explain why. You’ll take a whistle-stop tour through human history to discover why we’re so in love with adding and why we don’t like its opposite: subtracting. From the cradle of civilization to our modern economies from our genes to our architecture you’ll discover how addition and subtraction are intimately linked to our humanity – and to our way of life. 
In these blinks you’ll learn
how subtraction can fight racial injustice;
why we prefer to add things than take them away; and
what Legos can teach us about psychology.
Subtraction is an overlooked force for change.
In 1985 Sue Bierman was a city planner with a mission. She wanted the people of San Francisco to agree to remove Open / Comment

2021-08-29 06:39:43 Subtract
Part of 0/19

Subtract (2021) explores subtraction as a way to make positive change. It examines the human love affair with adding and having “more” – and it explains how our brains and environments work against subtraction. Open / Comment